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GIVING PEACE A CHANCE
ROTARYDOWNUNDER.ORG | 23 |
T
he conference
was one of six
of its kind to be
hosted around the
world, conceived
by Rotary
International president Ian Riseley
as a means of bringing peace to the
forefront at a time of international
discontent, as well as showcasing
Rotary’s work in communities around
the world.
Delegates were drawn from
Australia, New Zealand and further
afield, with international visitors
travelling from countries including
the United States and Nigeria. A third
of the audience came from outside
Rotary, and 20 per cent were students
or Rotaractors.
Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Muhammad Yunus headed a line-up
of over 20 exceptional speakers; his
speech emphasising the importance
of providing opportunity to the
disenfranchised. “Poor people do
not choose to be poor,” he said, to
applause, explaining how, through
Grameen Bank, thousands have
lifted themselves out of poverty
through microfinance.
Chairman and founder of the
Institute for Economics and Peace
Steve Killelea AM, positing we
cannot create something if we fail to
understand it, discussed his Global
Peace Index and the where, what and
how of peace across the globe. Dave
McCleary, vice chair of the Rotarians
Against Child Slavery Action Group,
and UNICEF CEO Tony Stuart, talked
about ensuring children’s rights to
safety and life.
Towards that end of the conference,
RAWCS chair Michael Perkins
announced that the committee
administering the donation from
the Dick and Pip Smith Foundation
has resolved that $100,000 will be
dedicated to developing a program to
combat cyber bullying – these funds to
be matched dollar for dollar. In addition,
the profits from the conference, as well
as a number of personal donations
garnered on the day, will be directed
towards establishing peace-related
programs for scholars and other worthy
peace programs – a lasting legacy of
the event.
The day was also host to powerful
accounts of striving for peace on
the frontlines. Rwandan genocide
survivor Jean Nepomuscene Sibomana
discussed his work with those linked
with the destruction of his very own
family to rise together above a dark
past. On the home front, Tribal Warrior
CEO Shane Phillips shared how youth
programs organised between the local
Indigenous community and police
have led to a decrease in youth crime
by 80 per cent.
A common theme threaded
throughout the program: peace, just
as its parallel conflict, is man-made.
Opportunities for education, economic
participation and social integration are
fundamental to creating a peaceful
world, just as much as their absence
can cause those with nothing to lose
to lash out.
Our duty as Rotarians, and citizens
of the world, is to create societies in
which all can flourish.
MC Hugh Rimminton,
second from left, with
Together for Humanity
representatives Kate
Xavier, left,Taha Allam,
Madenia Abdurahman
and Rabbi Zalman Kastel.
Shane Phillips,
CEO of the
Tribal Warrior
Association.
Dr Melissa Curley from UQ Rotary
Peace centre, left, RI President Ian
Riseley and Nobel Peace recipient
Muhammad Yunus.